Brits are believed to have been targeted by bogus 'Marketplace' sellers

But when shoppers click on the "learn more" button by an item - which often appear to give much better value for money - they can then be asked to privately email the third-party seller for more information.

The shoppers can then be scammed into paying for non-existent goods externally through a bank transfer rather than over Amazon Marketplace, MailOnline reports.

Paul Hennessy told the site he lost £475 after handing over £455 to a fake seller for a non-existent garden furniture set - along with £20 to his bank for an international transfer to a Czech account.

The 53-year-old photographer, from Hildenborough, Kent, had added a similar Arizona Rattan six-chair and table set costing to £872.46 to his Amazon basket before receiving an email believed to be from Amazon (vfe-campaign-response@amazon.com) suggesting he could buy the same item for almost half the cost from a third party seller.

Amazon advises customers never to pay for a Marketplace item outside of the Amazon.co.uk site

It was only after he'd sent the bank transfer that he felt something could be wrong - and checked with Amazon who confirmed that the email address auto-confirm@amazon-confirmation-order.com was nothing to do with Amazon.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau are now investigating, and Mr Hennessey's bank are trying to retrieve the payment.

But Mr Hennessy has accused Amazon of not taking the issue seriously.

The dad-of-two said: "I believe that I have been the victim of a sophisticated fraud as a result of serious security failings by Amazon.

"I should expect to be able to trust a company as big as Amazon to ensure that fraudsters cannot use its platform to con customers."

A customer representative at Amazon.co.uk has apologised to Mr Hennessy but said he wasn't eligible for compensation - as the purchase was made outside of Amazon Marketplace.

In an email, she wrote: "We provide an A-to-z Safe Buying Guarantee for all orders placed with Marketplace Sellers when the order is paid for through Amazon.co.uk.

"On this occasion, as you made payment to the Seller outside Amazon.co.uk you aren't eligible for the A-to-z Safe Buying Guarantee and we are unable to provide any further assistance.

"We will gladly co-operate with your bank and the police if they contact us."

A spokesman for the site said: "Amazon.co.uk Marketplace is safe, secure and guaranteed.

"Payment within the Amazon.co.uk site is the only authorised and recognised form of payment for items sold by Sellers on Amazon.co.uk.

"Every customer who orders on Amazon.co.uk is covered by our A-to-z guarantee; however items paid for outside of the Amazon.co.uk Marketplace aren't eligible for protection.

"We advise customers never to pay for a Marketplace item outside of the Amazon.co.uk site and for the security of our customers, all communication for Marketplace items between the Seller and buyer should be conducted solely through the Amazon.co.uk site."

He added: "If a customer is contacted by a Seller requesting payment via another method, we ask that they report it to us.

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"Should an unauthorised person have gained access to a Seller's account as a result of receiving account information outside of Amazon, we’ll take appropriate measures immediately to protect the customer and seller."
More information about Amazon Marketplace and the A-to-z Guarantee can be found here.
Find out more about Safe Online Shopping by clicking here.

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